Hinata! You alright?
by RedSpikedFury
Summary: Kageyama hit the back of Hinata's head with his crazy jump-serve, and the impact triggered Hinata's growth. Hinata is happy because he his growing, but sometimes he feels very bad growing pains while playing. Kageyama is happy because Hinata dream of being tall may become real, but he feels guilty for making his friend suffer this much. How will all of this play out?
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER! I do not own Haikyuu! neither do I make any money from this fic.

CHAPTER I: Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it isn't there

[thursday evening]

Hinata has been under a lot of mental strain lately. Never has the boy let his size define his feelings, but this has grown steadily more difficult after their victory in the Miyagi prelims. The boy usually doesn't address his height as a disadvantage because he is too busy playing to even reckon it. During the past days however the end-of-semestre feeling has downed over Karasuno Volleyball Club, and the trains have grown shorter and less intense. They were all looking forward some well-deserved holidays after beating Shiratorizawa. Coach Ukai was even letting them have more time for free practice at the end of evening training sessions. This would normally set Hinata in absolute hype, but after three days of extended free-time the small redhead has started to think too much.

The last free practice went particularly bad for Hinata. He, Tanaka and Asahi were practising spikes. For twenty minutes or so all was well, Tanaka and Hinata were actively competing to set who would score a point closest to the line. After scoring the victory-point against both Aoba Jōhsai and Shiratorizawa, Hinata's spike was definitely the favorite to win, but Tanaka was putting up a good fight. Asahi remained out of this mess. He isn't the kind of guy who enjoys competitions, anyway. In the end, Hinata scored a point merely two millimeters from the back-line and beat Tanaka. After some fuzz, all the team members proceeded to train serves.

Despite his victory, Hinata's mind wouldn't settle. Not even during his serve.

 _"What does it matter if I can score that close to the back-line if I can't spike past a block?"_ the redhead thought as the hold the ball at the back of the court.

 _"Put a blocker as tall as Tsukishima in front of me and my spikes are useless"_. He threw the ball up, lifted his right arm, stepped forward and hit the ball. _"If only I had Asahi height or power..."_

The ball hit the edge of the net but didn't have enough momento to cross it so the ball fell in Hinata's side of the court. _"Tsc"_ Hinata grunted. The short boy then started moving to get back the ball. _"I shouldn't be thinking this, it helps no one. Kagayama has already said this to me..."_. The boy kneeled down, got the ball and started to head back to the other side of the court. _"Anyway! The Small Giant was Karasuno's ace and he was small as I am. If he could do it I can, too!"_ He tried to sher himself up again, not that it was very effective.

From the opposite corner of the court, Kageyama couldn't hear what Hinata was thinking, but he could imagine it very clearly from the faces the redhead was pulling. He got to know the shrimpy very well by now and every time he would start think nonsense about his height it would put the genius setter in a horrible mood. _"Hinata, boke."_ Kageyama said in a low voice so that only himself could hear. _"I've already told the shrimp he is fast, he can jump. If he trains hard enough to improve, he won't need any centimeter more to become an ace."_

Despite all the bullying the setter would make of the small boy, he cared for him. He just didn't like to make it public. And just because he cared for the boy, every time the shrimp entered the low self-esteem self-destructive mode he would intervene. He did so when Hinata first got hit in the head by Asahi's spike in the game against Karasuno Neighborhood Association Team, and he has done so ever since. This time, though, he decided to let the boy alone. It would draw too much attention if he started yelling at him from the other side of the court because of the shrimpy's slightly downed attitude.

With that in mind, Kageyama proceeded with his serve training. Right now, only himself and Asahi-san could hit a jump-serve properly. Yamaguchi still had much to practise before he could perform it safely. _"So I can't afford to miss a serve anymore"_ thought the setter as he threw the ball high up and sprinted for the serve.

Kageyama serve was monstrous as always. _"Yes!"_ the setter celebrated his seemingly perfect serve. If he succeed to repeat it in a match, it would be a service serve. But this wasn't a match, this was a free practice. _"Shit!"_ cursed the setter when he realised where to the ball was heading. It was heading straight to Hinata, who was returning to the back-line at the opposite side of the court. Kageyama shouted: _"Hina-"_.

Too late. The ball hit Hinata right at the back of his head.

The small boy was caught by surprise, the shock wave threw his light body forward and he fell with his face to the ground.

 _"HINATA! YOU ALRIGHT?!"_ Daichi shouted to the boy, who has changing position from lied with his belly down to sit with his legs cross.

 _"Y-yeah. I'm al-alright"_ the redhead answered a little too slow for his captain's taste. A small circle with the order team members formed around the boy.

Kageyama noticed that Hinata was a bit slower than usual after the impact, too. Something inside his chest stinged and he grew unquiet next to the innocent victim of his crazy jump serve. He was so discomfortable he started yelling at the boy. _"Hinata boke! Keep your eyes up during serve training or you'll-"_.

 _"ENOUGH, KAGEYAMA"_ Daichi shouted at the setter. Even crouched down next to Hinata, looking up to him, Kageyama had to admit his senpai presence was undearable.

So he shut up.

Hinata couldn't help but feel bad for Kageyama. Despite the pain he was feeling at the back of his head being the genius setter's fault, he knew the taller boy hadn't done it on purpose.

 _"It's alright, captain. I feel better already"_ said the redhead trying to lift the foggy atmosphere that had downed over the team. _"Ah, Kageyama"_ he kept going _"sorry for not paying attention on the court. I should had been looking up"._

The setter's heart almost broke into pieces with this last phase. He could have been killed by that impact in the head and yet the boy was apologising. Kageyama should have said something, but couldn't find the words, so he remained quiet and offered his hand to pull Hinata back on his feet.

Once standing up, Hinata realised how dizzy he actually was. He tripped in his own feet, and he would have fallen down again if it wasn't for Daichi holding him up. The captain put Hinata's left arm over his back, held the boy's waist with his right hand and carried him to the bench.

 _"Someone go find Takeda-senpai!"_ he told the team as Nishinoya sprinted out the gym to look for their professor.

Less than five minutes later, Nishinoya and Takeda-senpai arrive at the court. _"Hinata! What happened? Can you breath? Can you walk? How many finger are you seei-"_ Takeda-senpai was freaking out as usual.

 _"Takeda-senpai, calm down please. I was just a little dizzy, but I'm alright now"_ interrupted the boy as the stood up and sprinted around until the other side of the court and back to the bench.

 _"Thanks Goodness you are alright, Hinata"_ Takeda-senpai finally breathed, then he continued _"but I think you've had enough action for one day, haven't you? Go home and rest for tonight, okay?"_.

 _"Okay..."_ answered Hinata a little saddened for losing the rest of the evening practice.

 _"Come on! Let me take you home. It was me who almost killed you, anyway"_ offered Kageyama after noticing how distressed Hinata became on the perspective of losing the evening practice.

So the two partners said goodbye to their fellow teammates, stopped by the changing room to gather their stuff and headed to Hinata's house. In the way, their they didn't talked. When they were together they would usually fight over some nonsense, but today they were both deep in thought. Each trying their best not to let their thought be discovered by the other.

Hinata was a little unquiet close to Kageyama. It was him who accidentally threw that crazy serve at back of his head and got yelled at for it. Hinata felt bad because Kageyama got yell at because of him, but he also was a little offended for being hit by the setter's serve.

Everyone knew Kagayama was Karasuno's best player at serving, he was on par with Oikawa from Aoba Jōhsai. He knew how to control his serves. And he wouldn't have aimed a serve at someone's head on propose. Kageyama wasn't emthat/em mean. So the only option left was that Kageyama didn't actualy saw Hinata. And the only reason Hinata could think of why Kagayama didn't saw him was because of his height.

 _"Everything goes back to it"_ the little redhead thought _"If I was taller, things would be much easier, and none of what happened today would have taken place"_.

Hinata's mood was getting worse by the second, Kageyama was able to notice. He had grown quiet proficient in reading the shrimp feelings after tossing to him for months. Kageyama could bet the reason of Hinata's bad temper was the same as in the court earlier: the shrimp was jealous of other players' height and strength.

It would always upset Kageyama when he noticed these thoughts in the redhead's mind. This time however what he felt wasn't anger, it was pity.

Due to Hinata's energy and light-heartedness the setter would almost never notice their height difference. In situations like this, or like when Hinata as on the floor however he could not help but to notice how short and how light this boy actually was, or how easily he could get hurt jumping and bumping into others players recklessly.

For the first time since they had met, Kageyama found the right word to describe Hinata the way he was now… fragile. It broke his heart. He want to say something to console the boy, but he couldn't gather the courage to, so the remained silent.

After a thirty-minutes walk, the two boys arrived that Hinata's house.

 _"Thank you, Kageyama!"_ said Hinata smiling forcefully. _"And don't worry, I know you didn't do that on purpose"_ he completed, leaving the setter slightly more relaxed. _"See you tomorrow"_ said the short boy before he entered home.

Kageyama sighed and resumed walking back to his own home.

Hinata didn't told his mother what happened at the volleyball club. He knew that if he did she would certainly overreact. So they boy acted like normal, even though a slight pain still lingered to the back of his neck.

The redhead took a shower, had dinner and then went to his bedroom to do his homework. When he was halfway through his math worksheet, Natsu his little sister entered his room.

 _"Onii-chan, come play with meeee"_ she invited her big brother, and Hinata could say no to a four-years-old. So he layed down his pencil and suddenly sprinted up towards Natsu, grabbed her up and started tickling her.

Natsu exploded in laughter. He took her to the living room, still hold and tickling her, and then put her down on the sofa. _"I wanna play hide and seek!"_ the little girl demanded.

 _"Okay. But only once, alright? I've gotta finish my homework"_ Hinata explained to his little sister.

 _"All right"_ Natsu accepted. _"You hide and I look for you. One, two..."_ she stated and then she put her hand in her face and started counting all of a sudden.

 _"Hey! It's not fair"_ Hinata tried to argue.

 _"Three, four…"_ Natsu wasn't going to stop, so Hinata hurried up to find a place to hide. He ended up hiding under the very sofa Natsu was standing on.

 _"Gezz... She's just like Kageyama..."_ Hinata thought. _"At least she will never find me here. This one of the perks of being small: winning at hide-and-seek."_ Hinata laughed mischievously inside his head.

Natsu finished counting and started looking for Hinata throughout the house. After five minutes, his little sister didn't found Hinata and started to grow impatient.

 _"Onii-chan! You still in the house?! If you aren't, it is not fair"_ Natsu shouted in the air. More five minutes have passed and Natsu was VERY annoyed at her big brother.

It was when Natsu started to cry.

Natsu's outburst got Hinata with his guard down. He jumped in his place, and hit the back of his head in the sofa above him.

The boy wasn't excepted the pain that followed the impact. _"Gezz, that ball must have really made some damage"_ he thought as he got out from under the sofa, putting brave face not to let his little sister notice his pain.

He then consoled his sister until she calmed down, he apologized for hiding in a place too difficult for her to find him and headed back to his bedroom. _"Enough of playing for today"_ he told Natsu.

Hinata closed the door behind him when he entered his bedroom. He sat on his bed, feeling the back of his head throb. So the boy decided not to finish his homework, and go to sleep

If his head wasn't any better in the morning, he would tell his mother.


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER! I do not own Haikyuu! neither do I make any money from this fic.

CHAPTER II. Sleep tight and wake bright

[thursday night]

Hinata blinked. He was back at Karasuno but for some reason he couldn't move a muscle, not even his eyes. He couldn't feel anything either. It has a very weird situation. He felt as if his head was floating at the corner of the volleyball court, detached from the rest of his body.

Suddenly, Hinata was thrown up, spinning very fast. As the boy rose and spinned, he managed to see Kageyama from above. The setter started running and then jumped towards Hinata as if he was going to jump-serve. Then Kageyama slapped Hinata midair. Hinata grunted mentally with the impact and started moving forwards. Only then Hinata realised HE WAS THE BALL. " _How can it be?"_ Hinata thought. Was he dreaming? That was the only option. But everything felt so real.

When Hinata-ball hit the ground the boy woke up in his bed, covered in sweat, hyperventilating, and with his heart pounding so hard he could feel it in his chest.

The boy tried to breathe more slowly and calm himself down, but it didn't work. Suddenly, felt the urge to vomit, so he sprinted off his bed towards the bathroom, waking everyone in house up in the process. When Hinata's mother arrived in the bathroom, she found her son with his head almost completely inside the toilet, vomiting. Hinata was in a horrible state.

Without second thoughts, she grabbed her son, shoved him in the backseat of the family's car and drove off to Miyagi General Hospital as fast as she could.

[friday morning, at Karasuno]

When Tanaka arrived at the volleyball court that morning, bringing the keys with him, Hinata wasn't waiting on the stairs outside as he would normally do. Tanaka didn't put much thought into it, though. Hinata was hit quite bad the day before by Kageyama's serve, it wouldn't be that unexpected if he didn't show up today. So the bald guy proceeded to unlock the court and put the net up before the other players arrived.

After Kageyama and Hinata left the court, Sugawara had mentioned that the redhead is quite used to get hit in the head, but he had never seen Hinata so distressed after an impact as the day before. Tanaka recollected Suga's exact words while he pulled the net up: " _I hope he is really all right. The back of the head is not a pretty spot to get hi-"_.

" _Ryū!"_ shouted Nishinoya, interrupting Tanaka's train of thoughts.

" _Oi, Noya-san!"_ he greeted his friend back.

"Why are you _this quiet? I thought there was no one inside, and someone had forgot the door open last night!"_ the shorter boy comment on Tanaka's silent manners that morning. " _Hey. Hasn't Shōyō arrived yet? He's late"_ he said, after he noticed Tanaka was actually alone.

" _He hasn't arrived yet, as you can notice"_ the bald boy answered. " _Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if he misses the morning practice… That serve Kageyama hit in his was quite nasty-"_.

" _Nonsense!"_ Nishinoya interrupted. " _That guy is tough! He is alright. And he IS coming. He must have just slept too much, that's all"_ he continued, trying to comfort his friend despite worrying for Hinata himself in his thoughts.

[friday morning, at Miyagi General Hospital]

Hinata blinked. This time he wasn't at Karasuno volleyball court, nor in his bedroom. This time he could move so he sat in bed, and he could feel so he noticed that the dull pain at the back of his head was still there, despite not as incapacitating last night. The boy looked around the almost-empty room with white walls, two beds (himself's and a second one next to him, which was empty), a television in front of him, and a door with the word "toilet" on it. " _Why am I in a hospital?"_ thought the boy, not remembering the scene of the previous night.

Hinata first heard the flush noise coming from the toilet, and then the sound of running water. After the sound of water ceased, the toilet door cracked open. Hinata's eyes widened in surprise as he saw his mother coming into the room.

 _"Good morning, sweety. You woke up"_ she didn't sound too much worried.

 _"Good morning"_ Hinata answered, still a little aghast from waking up at a different place from where he went to sleep. "Mom, what happened?" the boy asked to clear the confusion in his mind.

 _"I don't know exactly. When I found you in bathroom last night you were throwing up into the toilet, then when I tried to help you, you fainted."_ Hinata remembered this part of the story, though with some gross details in it. _"When I arrived with you at the hospital the vomiting had stopped, and you were fast asleep. The doctors took a CT scan of your head and draw some blood. You were hardly awake during the exams, so they sent us here for you to rest until they have the results."_ his mother kept speaking, until Hinata interrupted her.

 _"All of this happened this night?_ " Hinata asked, perplex for not remembering a thing.

 _"Yes, sweetheart. Don't you really remember anything?"  
_  
 _"No. Nothing."  
_  
 _"Ow. Well, the doctors said their team would come by your room before lunch to talk to you. You can ask them when they do so."_ his mother was try to comfort him. Again, Hinata couldn't help but find his mother too relaxed to be true. She should be freaking out right now. Had she spoken with the doctor? If so, it mustn't be anything serious. Hinata's train of thoughts was interrupted by a knock on the door.

 _"Excuse me"_ a young lady in a white coat said as she entered the room. Neither Hinata, nor his mother could help but to find the girl too young to be a doctor. _"My name is Chitanda Yamizuni. I'm a second-year medical student and I'm here to take your medical history. I'm still learning, so please forgive me if I take too long or commit some mistakes."_

 _"It's all right, darling. I'm a nurse myself."_ Hinata's mother said, trying to make the girl relax.

 _"So your full name is Hinata Shōyō. Is it right?"_ she asked, looking nervously from Hinata to his mother and vice versa.

 _"Yes. It is"_ Hinata answered.

 _"Hinata, how old are you?"  
_  
 _"Sixteen. I turn seventeen in July."  
_  
 _"Have you ever lived anywhere else than Miyagi prefecture?"  
_  
 _"No. I didn't."  
_  
 _"Born and raised in Miyagi. He and his sister"_ Hinata's mother completed.

 _"You have a sister?"_ the young lady was caught off guard for forgetting to ask this question earlier.

 _"Yes, a little one. She turned four three weeks ago."  
_  
 _"So, Hinata-kun. What happened? Why are you here?"_ the young lady asked looking directly at the boy's face.

His mother remained silent this time. She, too wanted to know what had happened. Hinata took a deep breathe before he started taking.

 _"I vomited last night, and after that my mom says I fainted afterwards."_ said the boy averting his eyes from both the young lady and his mother. _"I don't remember what happened, though"._

" _Shō-"_ Hinata's mother tried to talk, but the doctor-in-training interrupted.

" _Did something different happen before you felt like vomiting in the first place?"_ she asked with a very professional air to the, it felt as if she had rehearsed that phrase a million times in front of the mirror.

Hinata didn't want to answer this last question. As far as he was concerned, his mother still didn't know about the accident at the volleyball club, and it would be better if it was kept this way. He loved to play volleyball, to fight mid-air battles but his mother didn't understand. She always worried about Hinata. In her mind, her soon was too small and the other players were too big. " _Shōyō could get hurt"_ she thought every time her son left for volleyball practice. Well, so it happened. But Hinata would have done anything to hide it from her, but this wasn't the time for it.

" _Actually..."_ Hinata hesitated.

" _What is it, Shōyō?"_ His mother rushed nervously.

This rushing of his mother, sent a shiver through Hinata's spine. " _She will get mad"_ , he thought. " _She will force me to leave the volleyball club"_ Hinata panicked. So he lied.

" _I ate a pretty gross miso soup at school yesterday. Maybe it was it what caused all the vomiting…"_ Hinata improvised, looking away from his mother and to the other lady's eyes.

" _So food poisoning, it is. Makes sense."_ the young lady stated, she had noticed Hinata's uneasiness close to his mother. She had already met other patients like this before, so he knew how to act. " _Well, I think this is all for now. Mrs. Hinata, could you accompany me, please? You have to sign some documents at the reception"._

" _No problem."_ she answered the lady. " _Shōyō, I will be right back, alright?"_ she told her son, as if he was going to flee the Hospital in her absence.

" _All right, mom."_ Hinata answered dully.

So the two women left the room, and Hinata was left alone with his thoughts. There was no way he would be able to hide the accident from his mother for much longer, and when she found out she would totally freakout. She was never willing to let Hinata play volleyball in the first place. If she discovered Hinata got- Hinata hesitated, he forbade himself to keep thinking that. " _Everything will be alright."_ he lied to himself. The boy turned in his bed, his back towards the door, and pretended to sleep.

[friday morning, Miyagi General Hospital's reception]

" _Mrs. Hinata, this is Tanako. She will help you with the paperwork."_ the doctor-in-training introduced the worried mother to an oblivious receptionist.

" _Oh. Thank you very much"_ Hinata's mother thanked her for her usefulness.

" _Keep her busy for twenty minutes or so, would'ya? She is a patient's mom."_ she said in a low voice so that only the receptionist would listen.

" _All right, Chitanda-san. Got it."_ answered the receptionist with a content smile and a well-trained voice. She was a dear workplace friend of Chitanda's and she know quite well what " _She is a patient's mom"_ was supposed to mean.

" _I have to go back to work, Mrs. Hinata. Have a good day."_ the young doctor reassured Hinata's mom as she left the reception.

" _Thank you agai-"_ was all the boy's mother managed to said before the young woman in a while was out of reach. Then she turned to the receptionist to proceed with the paperwork.

[friday morning, Miyagi General Hospital, back at Hinata's room]

Chitanda had to hurry. The boy was clearly not telling everything with his mother in the room, so she had to get rid of her. Even if only for a few minutes. " _Thanks Goodness, Tanako-san was at the reception."_ the medical student thought. Now she had to be quick and get the boy to spill the rest of the story out.

Hinata was almost entering sleep when heard someone knocking on the door. " _Excuse me. I'm coming in"_ he heard before sitting back up on his bed. It was the young lady from some minutes ago. Hinata noticed she was slightly out of breath. " _Are you alright, doctor?"_ he asked, genuinely worried.

" _Oh. Yes, I am."_ the young lady answered the boy quite distressed, again she was not expecting such a question and was caught of guard, the second time that day.

" _Did something went wrong with the paperwork?"_ Hinata asked slightly concerned by the young lady's return.

" _Oh no. Everything in fine."_ the lady answered quickly and then rushed to her real objective. " _Hinata-kun, I noticed you were quite uncomfortable next to your mother earlier, is there something bothering you she can't know?"_

Hinata averted his eyes from the woman and didn't answer. Strike one.

" _Hinata-kun. If there is something wrong, you can tell me. I'm not going to tell anything to her if you don't want me to"_.

Hinata remained silent. Strike two.

" _Please, Hinata-kun. We have to be fast, I asked a friend to keep your mother busy at the reception for a while."_

Hinata sighed and lifted his head, gazing directly into the woman's eyes. Bingo. She won Hinata over when she told him she was fooling his mom. No way he wasn't going to take part in such a prank.

" _I hit the back my head yesterday, at the volleyball practice."_ Hinata finally spilled out.

The medical student blinked twice, perplex with this new information. For the third time that day she was caught his her guard down, she had to control herself better. " _Ok. Stay calm. Don't let him notice your surprise…"_ was the only thing she managed to think that moment. " _So you play volleyball?"_ she answered the boy seeming really interested.

" _Yes! Yes, I do! And I love so much!"_ Hinata lively answered the woman in a white coat. She couldn't help but notice the boy's sparkling eyes.

" _For how long have you been playing, Hinata-kun?"_ the medical student asked, a little sad for interrupting the boy's enthusiasm.

" _Ah, that's a long story."_ the redhead stated slightly lazy to remember his long-gone past. " _In short, I first started playing in junior, but there was no team for me to enter so I practiced with the female team. After I entered Karasuno High, I joined the volleyball team there and I've playing ever since."_ told the boy as if removing a band aid, quickly so that not to feel the pain.

" _I see. And how did you get hurt, Hinata?"_ the young woman asked again.

" _Kageyama hit me with with that crazy jump-serve of his. I was heading back to the corner of the court, my backs towards and I feel is the impact right here"_. He show the woman the spot he was hit. " _Then I fell...But it is not his fault! He didn't see me there. He is going to the National Youth Training Camp, he can't get in trouble!"_ completed the boy, afraid that he saying the truth would have any bad repercussion for Kageyama.

" _Don't worry. Your friend is not in trouble. Everyone knows this kind of stuff happens in sports club."_ the woman interrupted at the sight of the boy's distress for his friend.

" _Thank you. Seriously."_ said the boy.

" _Don't thank me! It's the hospital policy that the patient has complete secrecy over his information…"_ she answered jokingly. Then she continued. " _So, Hinata-kun. Are you friend with this Kageyama guy?"_

" _In a sense. He doesn't talk much, and every time we are in the club and I make a mistake he yells at me. But I'm quite accustomed by now, it's just the way he is."_ Hinata answered looking out through the window.

"I see." The doctor-in-training started to speak but then she was interrupted by a mensage in her cell phone. " _We only have five minutes before your mother is back, Hinata-kun. I need to take your measures before going."_

" _I'm 164 centimeters and I weigh 55 kilograms. We measured the day before yesterday at the club"_ answered the boy, thinking he was doing the young lady a favour.

" _Uh… Thank you, Hinata-kun, but it is also the hospital policy that every patient has to be measured here..."_ she replied slightly embarrassed.

" _No problem."_ answered the boy.

Hinata got down from his bed. The woman in white coat assisted his with the IV tubes and the saline bag. They headed to the balance at the corner of the room so that the woman could measured Hinata.

" _Strange. It says you are 168 centi-"_ she was saying before Hinata interrupted her.

" _WHAT?! Am I taller?!"_ asked Hinata with the biggest smile he could ever perform.

" _I don't think so. They must have measured you wrong at the volleyball club, there is no way someone can grow four centimeters in two days…"_ the medical student said dully.

" _But if they measured me right back at the club, it means I'm taller! God, I've never grown so much between two measures."_ Hinata was very happy now, indeed.

The young lady phone beeped again. "Hinata, I've got to go. And you have to go back to bed…" she said rushing Hinata back to the bed. " _You mother will be here in no time, don't tell her I was here. I will be back at noon."_

" _Okay, Chitanda-san. See you later."_ said Hinata at the leaving woman, he was still smiling.

" _See you."_ they young lady replied closing the door behind her and rushing away from the boy's room.


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Haikyuu! neither do I make any money from this fanfic.

CHAPTER THREE: Big News

[Friday morning, at Karasuno]

Kageyama was calmly heading out of the gym after morning practice.

Inside his mind, he tried to divert from thinking about Hinata's absence that day. It would be normal to sleep in today, to recover better from the impact on his head.

At least that was what the setter was trying to convince himself of.

Hardly had Kageyama entered the school building, he felt his phone vibrate. It was a message from Hinata.

 _"_ _Go to the nursery and measure yourself."_

The tall boy didn't understand the reason for that. Coach and Kiyoko-san had them measure the week before for club statistics.

 _"_ _Why should I do that?"_ he replied.

 _"_ _JUST DO IT."_ the shrimp texted back, not ten seconds later.

Kageyama sighed at Hinata's answer. _"Geez, how can this little shrimp be so annoying?"_ he complaint inside his head.

Then the memory of his missed serve from the previous day downed on him.

He didn't mind much the boy's absence from practice that morning, but now a mild guild built on him,

 _"_ _Better it be important."_ the setter grumbled as he headed to the nursery, feeling slightly defeated for carrying out Hinata's demand this easily.

[Friday morning, Hinata's room at Miyagi General Hospital]

Hinata's mother had returned shortly after the medical student left. Now she was sat beside her son's bed, keeping him unwanted company.

By her side, Hinata was rooting to discover if he was taller for real. But he couldn't just ask his mother that.

He had to be discreet, just as Chitanda-san had asked. That's why he had texted Kageyama and that's why he was putting such an effort in pulling a straight face close to his mother.

But the setter was taking too long to reply…

So long in fact that Hinata was growing slightly agitated, despite his best intentions to keep his cool.

 _"_ _Is he even going to do it? I should've texted Suga-san…"_ the boy thought anxiously.

 _"_ _No! Kageyama is going to answer. He would have replied if he wouldn't..."_ he scolded himself mentally for not trusting in his partner.

After a few minutes, Hinata's spiral of anxious thoughts was cut short when he felt his phone vibrating amidst the sheets of the hospital bed.

He took a while until he finally found it, only so that his mother could lecture him for being so little self-conscious with his things. The redhead simply side-eyed his mother in silent retaliation and then proceeded to read the setter's long-awaited reply.

 _"_ _180 cm. Happy?"_ Kageyama had written.

Just as Coach Ukai said on Tuesday!

That meant Coach measured them right.

That meant Hinata was indeed taller.

Hinata almost burst in happiness. Well, in fact he did, a little.

He cracked a smile, from one ear to another. The exact expression he had when he hit his first toss from Kageyama, an expression that made everyone who saw it slightly grander that moment onwards.

It was just a smile though, no laughter, no yelling. He needed to keep his mother unaware of his newly-acquired height. Otherwise, she would flood him with questions he didn't want to answer.

His phone vibrated a second time. It was Kageyama again.

 _"_ _What was that for, dumbass?"_

Kageyama demanded an explanation.

Hinata chuckled at how touching Kageyama could be when he was worried. He still called Hinata dumbass, though... But the boy didn't mind a bit.

Swearing was the setter's way of showing intimacy. So, for that he was grateful.

 _"I think I've grown 4 cm."_ Hinata texted Kageyama back.

 _"Nice try, boke."_ Again, Kageyama curses showed intimacy. _"You can't fool me."_

 _"It is true"_ Hinata was slightly offended because Kageyama didn't believe him.

 _"You're kidding."_

 _"I'm not."_

 _"You must have measured yourself wrong. You can't grow that much in a week."_

 _"I didn't measure myself wrong."_ Now Hinata was really pissed off. Bakageyama, you jerk! He wasn't that dumb so he could measure himself.

 _"How'd you know, boke?"_

 _"Cuz the doc measured me."_ Hinata answered without thinking through.

[Karasuno]

The last message Kageyama received from Hinata sent shivers down his spine.

It hadn't occurred to Kageyama that Hinata injury could be that much serious. He had managed to send the boy to the hospital just with his serve.

Imagine if he carried out the threats he jokingly threw at Hinata, day-by-day… There would be no Hinata left to tell the tale.

The setter felt like there was a notch in his throat. He felt guilty.

 _"Doc?"_ It was all Kageyama managed to type.

Apparently, Hinata was alright. Alive, and conscious. He was messaging him with quite decent spelling - better then usually, actually.

Nonetheless, Kageyama couldn't help but fear the boy's answer.

It took a while for Hinata to answer.

 _"_ _I woke up last night feeling like vomiting. My mother took me to the hospital just to be sure everything is alright."_

Okay, it wasn't that bad. The setter's feeling calmed down, a bit.

 _"_ _In which hospital are you?"_ Kageyama interrogated forthright.

 _"_ _Miyagi General. But I don't want you to come visit, Yamayama-kun."_ Hinata replied jokingly. At least he messing up good with the small boy's head didn't affect his sense of humor.

With that in mind, Kageyama sticked to his script.

 _"_ _It's not like I'm asking for your permission, dumbass."_ Kageyama replied playfully. _"I'm passing by at noon."_

 _"_ _Wait, Kageyama! Noon is time for the docs to come by..."_

Never did Kageyama read this last message. His phone's battery had ran out just before Hinata pressed "send".

[Hinata's room at Miyagi General Hospital, almost noon]

Hinata had been texting Kageyama like crazy, trying to tell the setter to come a little later. The setter didn't reply any of them, though.

Danm. He would arrive right at the moment the doctor would be seeing him.

That was too much for Hinata to handle all at once.

 _"_ _Shouyou, what is it?"_ his mother asked. Had he been panicking so much that his mom was able to notice?

 _"_ _Nothing..."_ he replied with a fake smile. He didn't want to talk about it, not at that time.

 _"_ _Shouyou, you can't fool me. I know you too well. What is it?"_ his mother insisted, the smile didn't work.

 _"_ _U-uh… Kageyama-kun is visiting."_ he gave the best excuse he could come up with.

 _"_ _Hm.. I see. Why didn't you tell me earlier, Shouyou?"_

 _"_ _I-I didn't want to bother you…"_

Hinata's mother chuckled a little at her son's silliness. He was 16 already, but he still was so childish…

 _"_ _So is Kageyama-kun missing practice to visit you? That surely doesn't sound like him."_

 _"_ _No... He is coming at noon."_ Hinata corrected his mother nonchalantly.

 _"_ _What!?"_ Sure Hinata's mother thought the same as him, Kageyama would arrive while the doctors were talking to Hinata, he would be wasting his time.

Hinata's mom was preparing herself to scold Hinata for being so unthoughtful. But she was interrupted by someone knocking on the door.

Hinata and his mom exchanged looks. It must be the doctors, so they braced themselves.

 _"_ _Come in"_ Hinata's mom answered loudly.

She and her son were both caught by surprise when Kageyama entered the room.

 _"_ _Sorry for the intrusion."_

 _"_ _K-Kageyama?!"_ Hinata blurped at the sight of the setter.

 _"_ _Hey, Hinata…"_ was the only thing Kageyama managed to say with Hinata's mother in the room.

He wanted to yell at the shrimp for being this surprised by his entrance. He said he would come by that time… He controlled himself, though. For the sake of the shrimp's mom.

 _"_ _Good morning, Kageyama-kun."_ Hinata's mother addressed the tall boy, gesturing for him to take a seat in the chair by the side of the second, empty bed in the room.

 _"_ _Good morning, Mrs. Hinata."_ Kageyama replied as he sat on the chair.

 _"I would leave two of you alone, Kageyama-kun, but Shouyou's doctor is to pass by at any time. I'm sorry for that."_ Hinata's mom was really agitated for having to deal with Kageyama and the doctor all at once.

 _"_ _If I'm disturbing at any way, I can wait outside…"_ Kageyama tried to complete.

 _"_ _No, no. You can stay, can't he mom?"_ Hinata intervened; he wanted Kageyama to hear doctors say he was taller.

 _"_ _Y-yes, he can…"_ Hinata's mom said, despite what she actually wanted that Kageyama went wait outside.

So they waited.

Kageyama and Hinata talked about the morning practice Hinata missed.

Not long had passed, when someone knocked on the door again.

This time a tall man in a white coat entered the room, behind him Chitanda made her way in, too.

 _"_ _Good morning, Hinata-kun. I'm Dr. Yukiatsu, you attending physician."_

 _"_ _Good morning, doctor…"_ Hinata replied shyly.

 _"_ _And you must be Mrs. Hinata?"_ The doctor then turned to Hinata's mom.

 _"_ _Y-yes. Thank you for coming so readily."_ she replied, once she had stood up to greet the doctor.

 _"_ _And this young lad over there?"_ the doctor finally asked, turning to Kageyama.

Kageyama stood up too, and bowed slightly to acknowledge the doctor.

 _"_ _I'm Kageyama Tobio, Hinata's teammate."_

 _"_ _Oh, I see…"_ the doctor replied nonchalantly. _"I'm sorry, son, but I have to ask that you wait outside. What I have to discuss with Hinata should be private."_

At that moment, Hinata felt his chest tighten a little. He didn't want to be left there alone with the adults. He never let anyone know but he was quite afraid of doctors.

As Kageyama, proceeded to the door Hinata almost asked him to stay. But the look of relief in his mother's face made him reconsider. He didn't want her to be any more uncomfortable, too. So he braced himself and let Kageyama wait outside.

Once Kageyama left, the doctor told Hinata and his mom what had happened.

Apparently, Hinata had a small tumor under his brain. The tumor seemed to be benign, but the doctor said that the localization of it must have being impairing Hinata's growth. So when Hinata hit his head the day before it may have changed position a little bit and now it seems that Hinata is recovering his height.

 _"_ _HIT IN HIS HEAD!?"_ was all Hinata's mom picked from the doctor explanation.

Hinata look enraged at Chitanda. She gave the boy an "I'm sorry" look. Hinata simply sunk into his blankets.

 _"_ _Explain it, Shouyou!"_ his mother demanded.

 _"_ _Doctor, didn't I tell you the patient didn't want us to tell the mom about the head trauma?"_ Chitanda address the doctor in a low-voice, while Hinata and his mom argued.

 _"_ _My bad. I thought it was the last patient, not this one…"_ the doctor replied, feeling a bit bad for triggering a mother-son conflict.

"Hinata Shouyou! Spill it out. What happened?!" Hinata's mom wasn't backing down.

 _"_ _Okay, okay."_ Hinata finally decided to speak. _"A ball hit me in the head at the volleyball practice yesterday. That's all…. No big deal."_

 _"_ _NO BIG DEAL?! You could have died, you know? How many times did I tell you to be careful at practice? But you always come home full of bruises. Now you are at the hospital. What's next, Shouyou?!"_

Hinata was really upset by his mother reaction and afraid that she wouldn't let him play volleyball anymore. He wanted to cry, but he kept a straight face.

 _"_ _Mrs. Hinata?"_ Chitanda finally spoke. _"I'm sure it wasn't Hinata's fault. He will take more care of himself from now on, won't he?"_ Chitanda looked at Hinata as she said it.

It was her way of apologising.

And it worked. Once Hinata's mom calmed down, the doctor continued to speak.

 _"_ _We don't think you need to worry about the tumor. We will just keep taking CT-scans of it once a year, just to make sure it won't become a problem."_

Hinata and his mom felt like a heavy weight was lifted from their backs.

 _"_ _But we do have to worry about your height growth now."_ The doctor continued. _"It is probable that your body will try to grow everything it didn't before in as little time as possible-"_

 _"_ _But that is a good thing! I've always wanted to be taller and I will be able to play volleyball better!"_ Hinata had almost forgot he had grown four centimeters in one night.

Now the boy was blissful again.

 _"_ _Yeah, I know it will be great to be tall, Hinata-kun. But growing so much so fast may be a quite unpleasant."_ The doctor made his point.

 _"_ _Unpleasant how, doctor?"_ Hinata's mom asked, she had got worried again.

 _"_ _Painful."_ The doctor replied. _"Have you ever heard of 'growing pains'? Young boys usually have it when they grow too fast in height. Girls can have it too but it is less common. Well, Hinata's height may increase much faster than that of ordinary boys his age, that's why he may experience much more pain than usual…"_

Hinata's mom didn't really know how to react. Her little sunshine boy was going to experience that much pain and she couldn't do anything.

 _"_ _I don't mind, doc."_ Hinata interrupted. _"If it means I'm going to be taller, I can bear any type of pain!"_

Hinata had that hyped expression of his when he decides to take a challenge while to talked to the doctor.

The doctor was impressed by the boy's resilience.

 _"_ _Alright, Hinata-kun. Well, since there is not much we can do right now. You are free to go. I will email your mom with my cell number-"_

The doctor was shortly interrupted by Chitanda pulling his coat slightly.

 _"_ _Oh, and Chitanda-san's as well. Should you need any assistence, please contact one of us."_

After that, the doctor and Chitanda left the room.

Hinata's mom looked at her son.

 _"_ _Shall we pack up?"_

 _"_ _Yes, ma'am."_

[Miyagi General Hospital, outside Hinata's room]

Kageyama was almost caught with his pants down when the doctors left Hinata's room.

He had been listening to the whole conversation from behind the door. When he realised the doctors were leaving he rushed to the waiting benches in the corridor, not to be cause leaning against the white door.

However, Chitanda knew exactly what the setter had been doing. As she left the room, she had a good look on the tall boy sitting across of corridor. He was sweating and his breathing seemed to be slightly accelerated. She chuckled at the realisation that he had been listening to the whole conversation.

Were those two boys only teammates for real? Damn, she was curious indeed.

Kageyama breathed more easily when the doctors entered the next room. He could swear that female doctor was staring at him. Anyway, he didn't put much thought into it.

He was too worried about Hinata.

So the shrimp wasn't lying when he said he had grown. And he would keep growing! How tall would Hinata get? Kageyama thought.

Taller than Kageyama himself, maybe?

No! Kageyama could accept being shorter than the shrimp. He had to do his best to remain the taller of the two, of that he was determined.

But… Hinata would also be in much pain. He would be taller and that's great, but was it worth it? Hinata certainly wouldn't mind, Kageyama thought. Would he?

That last thought sent shivers down Kageyama's spine. He was absolutely not comfortable about being responsible for Hinata's suffering.

Sure he was a tough guy. Sure he had a scary face. Sure he yelled at and punched Hinata a lot, too. But he didn't mean to do any real harm.

He liked the shrimp, nonetheless. As much as he was happy that Hinata dream of being tall would be true, he was worried was worried about his teammate's well-being.

With all this thoughts in his head, Kageyama stood up from his seat.

He remained upright for a while, in the middle of the long white corridor, pondering real hard whether or not.

In the end, because this was too much for him, Kageyama didn't re-enter Hinata's room, after the doctors left. He turned his back to the door and headed out of the hospital.

Hinata wondered where his friend had gone.


End file.
